1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to a turbine engine and, more particularly, to a mounting lug for connecting a vane to a turbine engine case.
2. Background Information
A turbine engine may include a plurality of structural guide vanes arranged between a first case that houses a turbine engine core and a second case that houses a turbine engine fan section. The structural guide vanes are utilized to structurally tie the first case to the second case, which may be connected to an aircraft wing or another engine support structure. The structural guide vanes are also utilized to guide fan bypass air through a bypass duct located radially between the first and the second cases.
Each structural guide vane may include a vane mount that connects a downstream, radial inner end of the vane to a flange ring of the first case. The vane mount typically includes a protrusion with a V-shaped (or curved) sectional geometry that is seated within a channel in the flange ring. The protrusion may extend axially to a protrusion end surface arranged radially between acute angled first and second engagement surfaces, which contact corresponding acute angled engagement surfaces of the channel. One or more fasteners extend axially through the flange ring and into the protrusion, through the protrusion end surface, to connect the vane mount to the flange ring.
Typically, an axial gap extends between the protrusion end surface and an end surface of the channel to ensure full contact between the engagement surfaces of the protrusion and the engagement surfaces of the channel. The gap may allow the protrusion to rotate within the channel under certain vane loading conditions, thereby subjecting the fasteners to undesirable bending stresses. Depending upon the amount of torque applied to the fasteners, the gap may also allow the engagement surfaces of the protrusion to push the engagement surfaces of the channel radially outward, thereby causing the sidewalls of the channel to splay and subjecting the flange ring to undesirable stresses.